Microsoft announces Silverlight 5

Microsoft will release a beta version of the next version of its Silverlight software in the first quarter of next year.

Silverlight 5 would support graphics processing unit-accelerated video decode to reduce the amount of processor power needed to load HD video.

Users would also be able to enjoy variable speed playback of media content with automatic audio pitch correction, according to Microsoft.

“This is great for training videos where you want to speed up the trainer while still understanding what he’s saying,” Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president for Microsoft's developer division, said in a blog post.

Remote control support was also added by the Redmond giant. Other new features were introduced to stop screensavers coming on when video was in motion.

Microsoft said additions to Silverlight would help developers produce “great” applications.

One addition was improved text clarity, enabling “crisper and cleaner text rendering, multi-column text flow and linked text containers, character and leading support.”

Accelerated 3D graphics support, meanwhile, will allow developers to create “richer data visualisation scenarios.”

Silverlight 4 was only released earlier this year as Microsoft looked to get some more market share over competitors like Adobe Flash.

This article originally appeared at itpro.co.uk